Tangled Branches: Cultivated

happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia

Saturday, July 19, 2008

A Crittery Day

I was tempted to title this post All Creatures Great and Small, but resisted.

There seemed to be an unusual amount of wildlife activity yesterday. Early in the morning I walked up to the vegetable garden to find that something had tasted my first semi-ripe tomato. Time to get out the plastic netting, darn it. And Japanese Beetles were everywhere, including on the basil. While I was in the garden, the Pileated Woodpeckers were making a fuss in the woods - calling and drumming and chasing each other.

I came back to the house for a second cup of tea, and found a young buck deer wandering through the woods in back - munching as he went. This was the best picture I got.

I count 3 points on each antler, so that makes him a 6-point buck? I obviously don't know enough about deer and need to do some opposition research. For instance, territoriality - does seeing one buck of that size mean there aren't any others nearby? Does he have a lady friend? Relatives? Does anybody know of a good resource for learning about deer?

The birds were very active yesterday and not just the woodpeckers. While I had the camera out I noticed a small grayish bird foraging, warbler-like, in the trees. It turned out to be a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Later in the afternoon I gave a recently-planted Viburnum a deep soaking with the hose. While I was moving the hose around, some tiny critter jumped out of the way. I first thought it was an insect, but looking closer I found the tiniest frog I've ever seen.

I left a bit of a plant label in the photo when I cropped it, so you can get an idea of just how small it is. My best guess is either a Leopard Frog or a Pickerel Frog. Any frog experts out there reading this?

We ended the day sitting on the front porch listening to the late summer sounds. The Cicadas have been singing for a couple weeks, but last night the Katydids joined the chorus. The fireflies provided the light show.

Labels: critters, deer, frogs, insects

Monday, June 09, 2008

Adventurous Foodies

Last year the deer helped me out by keeping the greenbriar trimmed. This year, not so much.

Instead they've been comparing notes on the merits of the vegetable garden. The word has gotten around that garlic scapes are delicious with a bit of fennel.

We seem to have a deer population of adventurous foodies. They've sampled several of the plants intended to be deer repellents - garlic, onions, fennel, rosemary, basil, sweet marjoram. Last year we had very little trouble with them concerning the plants we wanted to eat. They nibbled on a pepper plant or two and that was it. I imagined that my idea of deterring them with strong-smelling herbs was working. This year, well, we'll see.

Meanwhile, have you ever tried Greenbriar? I understand it can be cooked like asparagus.